No more in-room babysitting!

[Gatrcruzer]

Just wanted to let those who are counting on in-room babysitting know that it has been discontinued on Celebrity. Given that Celebrity is owned by RCL, my guess is that RCL is also discontinuing this service. It was a very nasty surprise to us when we boarded, as we would not have booked our cruise had we known that in-room babysitting would not be available. Apparently this is a very recent event, and due to an unfortunate incident on one of their ships that has resulted in a lawsuit.

[boulders]

What??? I don't require babysitting any more, but this was a big selling point to parents who do. Babysitting is still listed on their website. Was this an individual ship decision or a line decision? I know that a year or two ago, one of the RCCL ships cancelled babysitting for a Thanksgiving cruise. It was a staffing issue, not a lawsuit issue though.

 

I just popped over to the Celebrity forum to make a case for/against cancelling my upcoming cruise in August. This definitely makes it into the "for cancelling" column.

[eastoftheboston]

What??? I don't require babysitting any more, but this was a big selling point to parents who do. Babysitting is still listed on their website. Was this an individual ship decision or a line decision? I know that a year or two ago, one of the RCCL ships cancelled babysitting for a Thanksgiving cruise. It was a staffing issue, not a lawsuit issue though.

 

I just popped over to the Celebrity forum to make a case for/against cancelling my upcoming cruise in August. This definitely makes it into the "for cancelling" column.

 

Just curious, if you don't need the babysitting service anymore, then why would a lack of a service you don't use prompt you to want to cancel your cruise?

[boulders]

Just curious, if you don't need the babysitting service anymore, then why would a lack of a service you don't use prompt you to want to cancel your cruise?

 

It's the mindset. If they can cancel one amenity for kids/families, what's to stop them from cancelling others? When cruiselines have been sued for alcohol-related issues, they haven't stopped serving alcohol, have they? :rolleyes: I don't want to cruise on a line that thinks that families or kids are less important than other pax.

 

And I like to know that the babysitting was there, if I ever needed it. My youngest is still little.

[eastoftheboston]

It's the mindset. If they can cancel one amenity for kids/families, what's to stop them from cancelling others? When cruiselines have been sued for alcohol-related issues, they haven't stopped serving alcohol, have they? :rolleyes: I don't want to cruise on a line that thinks that families or kids are less important than other pax.

 

And I like to know that the babysitting was there, if I ever needed it. My youngest is still little.

 

Thanks! I hope I didn't come across as being snarky, I was just trying to get a better sense of why it might be a dealbreaker. You bring up good points.

[Bridge Maven]

It appears that Celebrity is gradually eliminating all the perks that had distinguished it from other mass market cruise lines ten years ago. As empty nesters who enjoy taking cruises with our married children and grandchildren, the elimination of in cabin baby sitting will be a factor in our selection of future cruises.

 

This doesn't mean that we won't consider Celebrity in the future, but I now perceive it to be the same as every other mass market cruise line, with the exception of its formal dress code. The other difference is that Celebrity ships tend to have less children which equates to more cabins with only two people in them. As a result a Celebrity cruise is more likely to sail with capacity based on two per cabin instead of full capacity

[rock01]

We just got off of Mercury today in Baltimore, 9 night Bahamas cruise. In room baby sitting was offered and we used it 3 times. On the Mercury, they now require 2 staffers to be in the room. We only had to pay for 1, the ship paid for the other.

[SusieV]

Is this confirmed to be gone? I am not sure I'd want to leave my son with strangers since we are cruising with his grandparents anyway but it was nice to know this was available if we wanted it.

[Gonzo70]

It appears that Celebrity is gradually eliminating all the perks that had distinguished it from other mass market cruise lines ten years ago. As empty nesters who enjoy taking cruises with our married children and grandchildren, the elimination of in cabin baby sitting will be a factor in our selection of future cruises.

 

 

I actually have the opposite impression of Celebrity; at a time where most cruise lines are making significant cuts due to the economic crisis, Celebrity seems to be adding new perks of significant value. For example Elite members now can enjoy free cocktails prior to dinner, some free laundry, and 90 minutes of free internet. I was fortunately enough to take two cruises this year; one on Royal Caribbean and one on Celebrity. I noticed lots of cutbacks on Royal Caribbean but more new perks than cutbacks on Celebrity.

 

If Celebrity is phasing out in cabin babysitting, this is certainly not a cost cutting meausre, but something they are doing for liability reasons. Hopefully this was an isolated incident as I know many people like having the option of in cabin babysitting out there.

[Denny01]

My type of post can be misconstrued, but OP, can you explain your source of dropping inroom babysitting?

 

We may offer our daugher and granddaughter to join us, so I called Celebrity and according to them, no change. Then called Captains Club with same response. Realizing that it takes time for changes to filter down and all that, this sounds like it may not be cut out.

 

So before we start pinging about Celebrity becoming just like all the others, or bemoaning dropping services, OP please let us know what your source is so we can get a feel if this is something we need to track further. But right now, according to Celebrity, which is who should know and, except someone who has direct knowledge (and one poster who just cruised said it was still available), is the source that probably has the best info.

 

Denny

[hajekfam]

To the OP: Were there many children aboard? What is the age of your child?

Since another poster just got off the Mercury where there was babysitting available and those calling Celebrity are being told that it is still offered, it could be that there wasn't availble personnel on your cruise.

 

It does state on the website under the FAQ's:

 

Babysitting (Stateroom Services):

 

For a nominal fee of $8.00 per hour, for up to two children within the same family, parents can arrange for a private, in-cabin babysitter. Children have to be twelve (12) months old or older to be eligible for in-stateroom babysitting and there are to be not more than two children per babysitter. Babysitting services are available through the Cabin Services Desk onboard all Celebrity vessels. Parents are asked to make all private, in-cabin babysitting requests 24 hours in advance. Private, in-cabin babysitting is subject to personnel availability

[kitty9]

It's the mindset. If they can cancel one amenity for kids/families, what's to stop them from cancelling others? When cruiselines have been sued for alcohol-related issues, they haven't stopped serving alcohol, have they? :rolleyes: I don't want to cruise on a line that thinks that families or kids are less important than other pax.

 

And I like to know that the babysitting was there, if I ever needed it. My youngest is still little.

 

RCI/Celebrity was just about the only line that provided in cabin sitting, so it's nothing new. Most have stopped because of liability/insurance issues.

[Bridge Maven]

RCI/Celebrity was just about the only line that provided in cabin sitting, so it's nothing new. Most have stopped because of liability/insurance issues.

 

Holland America also has in cabin baby sitting.

[BruceMuzz]

Holland America also has in cabin baby sitting.

 

Holland America Line offers in-cabin babysitting IF:

 

A crew member (who is not vetted, trained, or hired by HAL as a babysitter) volunteers to do it in his/her spare time.

[Bridge Maven]

Holland America Line offers in-cabin babysitting IF:

 

A crew member (who is not vetted, trained, or hired by HAL as a babysitter) volunteers to do it in his/her spare time.

 

Maybe we were just lucky, but when my husband and I took a Holland America Cruise with our daughter, son in law, and granddaughter, my daughter was able to get in cabin baby sitting for every night of that cruise.

[AgVball]

I know your post is about Celebrity, but I just got off of VoyagerOS. According to the ship staff, approximately two weeks ago, they changed their policy that there must be two female babysitters. Although RCCL's site says $10/hr, they told us on the ship it was $12. Supposedly the ship is paying the 2nd person. Also, supposedly they cannot honor as many requests now that they have to have two people for each request. Even if you request sitting for the whole week, they will call you each day to "confirm". We found out that if we did not confirm right away, we lost our sitters. They admitted that they messed up...we're not sure what happened.

 

Also, our daughters were asleep during the sitting time, and we asked the sitters to sit outside the cabin and listen to the monitor that we provided. This is pretty standard for a sitter in your home. Three nights in to the cruise, the service manager stated that the sitters MUST be IN the room, and there must be some type of light on...even if its a bathroom light so they can see to make sure the children are alright and don't fall out of the bed. (although ours were in pack-n-plays).

 

edit: also note that the sitters' time is limited so they work no more than 14 hours for the total day. So, they may or may not be able to fulfill your request. I think often the folks have to work a minimum of 10 hours on their regular job.

 

Sorry to hi-jack your thread OP....but I wanted to toss this out there for other parents to be aware that 1.) the price may be higher than what they advertise 2.) you may not get sittingg due to low staff levels 3.) they may create policies/procedures along the way without tell you.

 

We loved our babysitting service in the past, but, there was probably an "incident" and they are having to reconsider their service.

[Andy]

Hi Everyone !

 

I asked the question to Celebrity. Their response was, they continue to offer babysitting services. I hope this helps !

[crusinmama06]

Hi Everyone !

 

I asked the question to Celebrity. Their response was, they continue to offer babysitting services. I hope this helps !

 

Thanks Andy!

 

I would hate to see a decrease in services for kids. :) I hope they don't change the policy.

[Blue Lagoon]

I must have too much time on my hands. Went browsing thru P and O sight and news to me ..a Night Nursery. There are cribs (cots) lined up in a room. There is a stipulation that children must be settled down before the parents leave the room. Here's an option that other cruise lines might consider.

[Gatrcruzer]

I was told this on my recent cruise oon the Celebrity Century upon embarking, and that it was a decision by Celebrity to eliminate this based on the "unfortunate incident" and lawsuit. I begged, had my butler looking into it, etc., but the only response I could get was that it was no longer allowed on Celebrity ships. Period. They were willing to allow me to put my daughter, age 13 months, in the kids camp, but she goes to bed at 7pm so this wouldn't have been much fun for her. If they are actually allowing babysitting on other Celebrity cruises I am going to be so pissed! It totally ruined our cruise, and we paid top $ to get a suite.

[Orlcruzmama]

For what it's worth spoke with Celebrity at length today about this and they said that they DEFINATELY still offer in-cabin babysitting and there has NOT been a policy change. If I were you I would be complaining to someone and looking for some compensation due to the fact you were lied to.

[DocJohnB]

Never mind, asked and answered. Sorry.

[Gatrcruzer]

Thanks so much to everyone who has checked in with Celebrity and reported back. I did send off a rather angry letter to them, and I will update if I hear back from them.

[Johncn]

Hello,

 

We just got back from Constellation last weekend. Our tablemates were from Spain, and had a babysitter each evening.

 

They mentioned that there had been a change in policy for Celebrity "due to an incident", and for some reason they had to have two babysitters present at all time. My impression was that they used staff members who were off duty during those hours.

 

I don't know if this helps, or if it just muddies the water a bit more, but is what were told.

 

Regards,

 

Johncn

[Bridge Maven]

Hello,

 

We just got back from Constellation last weekend. Our tablemates were from Spain, and had a babysitter each evening.

 

They mentioned that there had been a change in policy for Celebrity "due to an incident", and for some reason they had to have two babysitters present at all time. My impression was that they used staff members who were off duty during those hours.

 

I don't know if this helps, or if it just muddies the water a bit more, but is what were told.

 

Regards,

 

Johncn

 

Does this mean that if a person wants in cabin babysitting they will have to pay twice as much as they did before?